Midterm Qs Flashcards
What 5 traits make a profession?
- Work requires sophisticated skills and use of judgement/discretion (non-routine)
- Requires extensive formal education
- Special societies or organizations made up of members of the profession regulate it
- Results in public good
- Accountability
What goes into trust?
Honesty and Reliability
How is trust different with a learned professional?
Includes competency
How is competency judged?
Education, experience, past decisions, tasks they are able to perform, how up to date their knowledge is, standards they work by, accountability
How is trustworthiness developed?
- Media
- Personal Experiences
- Others experiences
What is a fiduciary duty?
Special relationship of trust recognized in law that applies to professionals. It is a legal concept between someone offering their expertise and someone relying on that expertise. Includes duty of care and loyalty to client.
What 2 items are included in the social contract between professionals and the public?
- Rights (Autonomy, respect, compensation)
- Responsibility (Act in the public’s best interests, be honest and trustworthy)
What is utilitarianism?
The most ethical action is the one that is the most beneficial choice for all affected parties
What is the difference between act and rule utilitarianism?
Act: focussed on individual actions over general rules, a persons act is right if it produces the most good. Rules should be broken when it produces the most good
Rule: moral rules are fundamental, and adhering to these will lead to the most good
What are rights ethics (Locke)?
Ethical theory that humans have the right to life, liberty, and property. People have these rights and have a duty to respect the rights of others.
What are rights ethics (Meldon)?
Ethics centred around liberty and rights based on a sense of community. Moral “rights” mean capacity to show concern for others, and everyone has a right to community support.
What are duty ethics (Kant)?
Moral duties are fundamental, and ethical actions can be written down as a list of duties. Ethical actions express respect for individuals
What are duty ethics (Rawls)?
The duties we should follow are what a rational person would agree to in a hypothetical contracting situation
- No self interest
- Has knowledge of science psychology etc
- Seeks agreement with others
- promotes their long term interests
What are the 2 fundamentals of Rawls Duty Ethics?
- Each person is entitled to the most extensive amount of liberty without restricting others
- Some may benefit more than others
What are virtue ethics?
People will do the right thing because they have developed virtuous habits - wisdom and good judgement are most important virtues.
What are some vices in virtue ethics?
Dishonesty, disloyalty, irresponsibility
What is ethical relativism?
It’s ok if it is legal or customary
What are divine command ethics?
Right actions are commanded by a deity, while wrong actions are forbidden
What is ethical egoism?
It’s all about me (we’re all driven by our own self interest)
What is ethical pluralism?
There are many different approaches and one must carefully consider which approach to take
What is ethical problem solving?
Using moral theories to help resolve ethical problems and define a course of action
What are the steps to ethical problem solving?
- Identification (recognize a state of conflict & identify source of conflict)
- Analysis (Investigation, alternatives, ranking)
- Action (deciding on and initiating course of action)
What is a normative inquiry?
Identifies values that should guide you in decision making. What are the moral issues and what behaviour would be expected?
What is a conceptual inquiry?
Clarifying the important concepts or ideas in a scenario. Defining terms and concepts
What is a factual inquiry?
Focused solely on the facts (no deeper analysis)
What are the 3 levels of moral development?
- Pre-conventional: What’s good for me? Don’t do to others if you’ll be caught or punished
- Conventional: do as others do, accept norms of society. Don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want done to you
- Post-Conventional: follow set of principles concerning rights and general good with no self interest. Do for others as you would like done for you
What level of government passed the engineering act?
Provincial
Which ministry is responsible for the Engineering Act?
Ministry of Highways
How is the Engineering Act enforced?
APEGS is self-regulated and self-administered under the act through Administrative Bylaws
What is the purpose of the engineering act?
Ensure that engineering outcomes are designed, built, created, etc by qualified and competent practitioners
What does the Act establish APEGS as?
A legal entity
What is the practice of professional engineering defined as?
Any act of planning, designing, composing, measuring, evaluating, inspecting, advising, reporting, directing or supervising, or managing any of the forgoing, that requires engineering principles and that concerns the safeguarding of life, health, property, economic interests, the public interest, or the environment.